Rural mail box signal



Sept. 24, 1957 w. A. WARD 2,807,410

RURAL MAIL BOX SIGNAL Filed Aug. 21, 1953A 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I l "l 6`- E l I' 34 l 9| l [l2 -32 /4 i 42 42 "28 /48 Wayne A. Ward IN VEN TOR.

Sept' 24, 1957 w. A. WARD RURAL MAIL Box SIGNAL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 21, 1953 Wayne A. V/ar i INVENTOR ,BY A v' MIMMW? United SfaSPatf1f- [CC RURAL MAIL BX4 SIGNALv Wa'yneA.' Ward', WatertowinN. Y. Application August 21, 1953,`Seria`l No. 375,641

Claims. (Cl. 232-35) The present invention relates to a rural mail delivery box signaling means that will be automatically actuated upon opening the door of the box.

The primary object of the invention. istoprovide a rural mail signaling means that will 'signabautomatically upon-opening Vof the boxthat Will-notbe affectedby the actionV of wind when in its :signaling positionand which. will be protectedy from theweather atr all times when -in its non-signaling. position.A n

A very important object of this invention is to pro-` videvasrural mail box signaling device fthat .will serve as anA additional signal to the regulation signal now utilized to'notify the mail carrier that there is a. letter in.

the box` for him to collect.

Avery important object of the-.invention isto provide` a-mail delivery signaling means 'that'..may be mountedl at the front or rear end` of vtherbox, which is extremelysimple in its mountingand operation and requiring` a minimum number of parts.

Yet another object of the invention is toprovidera mail delivery signaling means for rural mail boxes 'hav'-v ing. a novel actuating means operatively connected to thel 35 door of the box.

These-together with other objects and'advant-ages which Will become subsequently apparent reside 'in the details" of construction and operation as more fully` hereinafter described and claimed, reference being hadto the'accom'- panying drawings forming a part hereof,` wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, andin which: Figure l is a side elevational view of a suitable mail delivery box with theinvention attached;

Y Figure 2 is a front view of the mail delivery box with certain' parts being shown broken awayzfor priority of detail showingthe mounting of the signalingm'eans on the door of the box;

. Figure 3- is a detail Vview in side'elevation. ofthe front' end kportion of the box showingl the door inv partially' opened position, with the signaling meansl constituting the .present invention in signaling position;

Figure 4'is a side elevational view in crosslsection of a ruralfdelivery boxwith the signaling mean'smoun'ted the numeral 10 indicates a Inail delivery box initsy entirety. As is customary, the boxA comprises an elongated housing12 'having a` floor 14', a closed rear end.16,and

an' open front 18 closed by a swinging door 20:- Con-- `veniently, the door Ztl'isV hinged on..horizontal pinsfor npin,-22below the open front end'l18- ofrthe box' so that Y, 2,807,410 Patented Sept. 24, 1957 2 upon downward swingingmovement of the door the entire interior of' the bo'x is exposed.'

Spring clipr 24m'ounted on the top of the housing 12 cooperates with spring clip 26 mounted on the door 20 to retain the door 20 in closed position.

The mail box, ofcourse, is mounted on'v a suitable stand or post 28.

In the form ofthe invention shown inl Figures 1-3, the outside of the door 20 is provided with a downwardly opening shield or cover 30 which is secured thereto `in any suitable manner. The` cover 30 is mounted on the outside of the door in' such a manner that its open' lower end` is disposed adjacent the lower end of theA door 20 and extends substantially parallel thereto.

Outwardlyfprojecting from the door 20-adjaceut one ofthe `lovvercorriers thereof is a rod or hinge pin 32;

VSwingably-m'o'unted onthe rod 32 is a flat signal in the formt-cfa sector-shaped plate or quadrant 34.` When thermail box door is in a closed position as shown jin Figures-l"an"d- 2," the quadrantl34 will be placed in the position'shown in these figures' wherein one edge thereof is parall'el` toi the lower'edge of thepdoor 20 while the other' linearedge. thereof is upwardlyextending and parallel tothe side edge ofthe door 20. At the junctionoffthe vertically directed linear edge with'the curved edge ofthe quadrantf34`acatch 36is mounted, which catch: may conveniently takeKV the shapeof an inverted channel to s'traddle the surfaces of the quadrant. With further reference to the catch' 36 it will lbe seen. that it is'vxedfto" the cooperating corner portion of t-he plate 34intermediat'efits ends and one end -35`projectsbeyondg the marginal edge of the plate to'provide the constructionA shown:` The other end portion of saidfcatch projects Vbeyond, thel curvate edge of theV signal plate, as at 37, and provides a check or stop shoulder which is engageablefwithlthe hereinafter described'stopy pin. Securedrto theinner surface of the housing 12 and ,projecting forwardly through an aperture through the door Ztlis'r a forwardly projecting pin 38L` When the door 2tlis` infclosedposition, the pin 38 engagesthelaterally projecting' catch 36 to retain the quadrant within the cover 30Uon` the door 20'. The catch 36 is also provided with youtstanding lateral ears 40 at one end which retain, the quadrant`34`within the cover30 equally spaced from the outside ofthe door 20 and the inside of the cover.

To forma wind guard for the atquadrant plateV 34, a pair of V-shaped wire members 42 are bent as at 43 to provide eyes, the latter encircling a horizontal pin 44 extending between the cover 30 and the door 20 within the `open bottom of the cover 30. Parallel legs 46 ex= tend downwardly and. then` bend in a verticalA direction withthe end Vportions 48`formed withV additional eyes 50 which encircle the hinge' rod `or pin 32 on opposite sidesV of the quadrant 34.' In addition to supporting the;wire members' 42, the horizontal pin 44 serves as a stop pin incooperati'on with the end portion 37 of the catch 36 to prevent the quadrant 34 from swingingentirely without the' limits Aof the cover 30. i

To loperate the signaling plate 3,4 the door 20v issimply openedand is swung and slid away from the pin 3,8?

which releases the end portion 35 of catch 36 and allows the1quad`rant-34 by the action of gravity-to swing about the pin 32 and be received between the legs t6-and 48 ofthe wind guard 42. The projecting end 37 of ther catch'3oen`gages the stoppin 44 of the wind guardto prevent pendulum like swinging movement of the quadrant plate 34. By its retention between the" legsfof the.

windy guardv 42, the quadrant Y34 -is not likely topbecom'e.

damaged bythe action 'of wind and the like.

In the modiiication shown in Figures 4 and "5, the

elements v of the signaling means, with the exceptionj'of the operatingmeans, are identical and aremerely'mounted' on the rear wall 16 of the mail box rather than the door 20 `of the box. Therefore, instead of being mounted on the outside of the door 20, the downwardly opening cover 30` is `mounted on` the side ofr the `rear wall 16. Likewise, the hinge pin 132projects1rea1'wardly from the rear wall 16 adjacent one of the lower corners thereof and thequadrant 34 is mounted on `this pin. :As in the rst embodimentpfthe invention, the vfree `ends of the vertical portions `48 `of thelegs 46` of the wind guard 42 are provided with eyes 50 which engage the pin 32 on opposite sides of the quadrant plate 34 so that this platewill swing between them.

Howeven' this embodiment does distinguish over the embodiment shown in Figures 1-3 inthe particular operating means utilized to actuate the signaling plate 34.

Thus, tabs `52 are struck inwardly from one side of the housing 12 in longitudinally aligned relation to one another `and an `elongated rod 54 is slidably seated in suitable openings in thesetabs and has one end 56 prot jecting through an opening 58 in the rear wall 16 to engage the` catch `36 to retain the quadrant 34 against pivoting movement about the pin 32. Y

The other end of the rod 54 abuts the door 20 when this door is in closed position so that the rear end 56 of the rod `will always project through the opening 58 when the door tis `in such closed position. A washer 60 is mounted on a portion of the rod 54 within the housing adjacent the rear wall 161 and a coil spring 62 reacts against this washer and the inner surface of the rear wall 16 to continually urge the rod into abutment at its other end'with the door 20 when closed.

Thus, when the door is open as shown in Figure 5,

thespring 62 urges the `rod forwardly and retracts the planation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the inventionto the exact construction shown `and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claims.

Whatis claimed as new is as follows:

l. A rural mail box comprising a housing open at one end andV provided at said open end with a hingedly mounted downwardly and outwardly swingable closing door `to form a movable end wall, and provided `at the opposite end with an immovable end wall, a sheath-like cover iixedly mounted exteriorly on `one of the end walls of said box and open only at its bottom and adapted to protectively house and contain a gravity lowerable auxiliary signal, a hinge pin tixedly mounted in the lower portionof said cover, a gravity lowerable and projectible and retractible flat sector-shaped plate, said plate constituting a signal and having one corner portion thereof hingedly `mounted on said hinge pin, said plate, when not in use, being housed within the confines of said cover, said one of said end walls of the mail box having an aperture therein, a catch fixed on an upper corner portion of said plate, and means supported on the mail box and having a portion projecting through said aperture constituting a keeper for said catch and adapted to release itself from said aperture and said catch when said door is intentionally opened and swings outwardly and down- Wardly.

2. The structure detined in claim 1 and the combinan tion `therewith of depending guard means, said guard CTI 4 means comprising a pair of spaced parallel xedly mounted legs, said legs being shaped and cooperable with said plate so as to permit the plate to fall therebetween and to be protected when `in its signalling position, that is, against wind damage.

3. The structure defined in claim 2 and wherein said keeper means is in the form of an elongated rod which is slidably mounted within the contines of the box and which is spring biased and has one end releasably cooperable with the door and the other end projecting through the aperture in the aforementioned one end wall and into the space within said cover and engageable and cooperable with said catch.

4. A rural mail box embodying a housing closed except at the usual front end and provided at said front end with a hingedly mounted downwardly and outwardly swinging door, the rear end wall of said housing having an.aper ture therein, a sheath-like cover aixed in spaced paral-v lelism to the exterior of said rear end wall and providing a signal accommodation space and being open onlyat its bottom, said bottom being in a plane approximately common with the plane of the bottom of said housing, a spring biased rod slidably mounted on the interior of said housing with one end releasably cooperable with the door and the `other end projecting through the aperture in the rear end wall and into the space in said cover, a flat signalling plate which is gravity lowerable and which is hingedly mounted in said space and normally conned in said space and provided on one upper corner portion with a catch, that portion ofthe rod adjacent to said catch constituting a keeper and said catch being releasably engageable with said keeper, an end portion of said catch projecting vbeyond a cooperating edge portion of the plate and providing a stop shoulder, and a relatively stationary stop member affixed in the lower portion of said cover in the path ofvmovement of said stop shoulder whereby when the latter comes into engagement with said stop member the outward and downward swinging position of the plate is checked.

5. A rural mail box comprising, in combination, a housing closed except at its front end, a closing door for said front end hingedly mounted on the box and openable downwardly and outwardly, said door having an aperture therein, a hollow cover affixed to the exterior surface of said door and covering said aperture and cooperating with the door and providing a signal housing space, said cover being closed except at its bottom, a pin fixed to one wall of said housing and projecting through said aperture and into the space and constituting a keeper, a sector-shaped plate normally housed in said space with a lower corner portion hingedly mounted in the lower portion 1of said cover, said plate being adapted to swingoutwardly and downwardly through the opening at Vthe bottom of said cover when the door is opened, the upper corner portion of said plate being provided with a catch having end portions projecting beyond the adjacent edge portions, respectively, of said plate and one projecting end portion of said catch constituting a retainer, the latter being releasably engageable with said keeper pin, the other projecting end portion of said catch providing a stop shoulder and being adapted to engage and come to rest against a stop member fixedly mounted in the lower portion of said cover.

References Cited in the le of this `patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

